Media

‘Sesame Street’ Finally Addresses Elmo’s Vile Racist Hack

CLEANED HOUSE

Sesame Workshop revealed what it knows about who was responsible for the offensive messages.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 06: A view of a photo booth with Elmo during "Mindful Families" presented by Headspace in partnership with Sesame Street and Unicorn Productions at Second Floor on September 06, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Headspace)
Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Headspace

Elmo’s X account has been restored, Sesame Workshop told Deadline Monday, following a string of racist and anti-semitic posts to the beloved character’s account on Sunday. Elmo’s account, which has 670,000 followers, posted several offensive messages over the weekend, much of them graphic—and took particular aim at Donald Trump, who the posts accused of covering up the Epstein files, calling him a “CHILD F***ER” and “Netanyahu’s puppet.” The posts have since been deleted. A Sesame Workshop spokesperson told Deadline, “Elmo’s X account was briefly compromised yesterday by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including anti-semitic and racist posts. The account has since been secured.” The hack comes after Trump calls for the “defunding” of PBS, Sesame Street’s original home. Wrote Democratic congressman Jared Moskowitz on X Sunday amid the hacker’s rants, “See what happens when you defund PBS.”

Read it at Deadline